A lot of fine words have been spoken in the last couple of months, but fine words dont win you promotion.
Of course after every poor performance from a team, its manager and players will always be upbeat and talk of how its all going to be put right in the next game and how everyone is united and focused, however the points total over the last ten games tells a very different story, for promotion chasing sides a bad run lasts no longer than 3 or 4 games, our one so far has extended to 10 and in that time we have picked up a mere 11 points, to put things in perspective rock bottom Coventry picked up 10 points themselves in the same period.
o the time for excuses is over, we have blown a great chance to surge forward and put ourselves beyond the reach of the chasing pack and if we are not careful we will blow our promotion hopes altogether.
Over that time after every bad result so many times I have heard the excuses " but we are top of the league" or "this is my best ever time as a Saints fan" well Im sure Nicola Cortese doesnt base how he feels the club is doing on how much fun he is having, he is focused on promotion and be certain that nothing will get in his way to achieve it, he wont accept poor displays over an elongonated period and nor should we as supporters.
So crunch time comes on Tuesday evening for the visit of Cardiff, make no bones about it this is a big game, not just for the three points on offer, but for the psycological boost or damge that would be done if we should win or lose.
For Nigel Adkins its another defining moment in his career, this game could well define whether he has what it takes or whether he will start to be regarded as one of those managers who choke when the going gets tough, think of Dave Jones and the number of times his Cardiff side blew promotion from better positions than we sit in now, for Adkins he has to get it right now and restore the team back to the form it was in up to two months ago,
Another defeat will open a can of worms about the way the team is set up, when we were winning every home game but failing to get three points on the road, not many questions were asked about why a side could dominate one week but not finish off their opponents the next, to many it didnt matter after all "we were top of the league" but clearly somewhere along the line the warning signs werent heeded and we now find ourselves in the position we are in ie on the slide and seemingly unable to nothing other than slow it down a little rather than stop it completely.
I dont buy the injury excuses, yes they are heavy at the moment, but for most of this two month run they havent been that bad, nor do i accept the abscence of Richard Chaplow as a reason, yes Chaplow had slotted into a wide role well and been part of the team than had put together a good run in October/November, but in our best form at the start when we won six out of seven games, Chaplow barely played, in total of those seven he made four appearances off the bench, totalling 82 minutes of play out of a possible 630, I like Richard Chaplow, but stats show we won plenty of games without much input from him, so why cant we do that now.
Bluntly I dont think the team spirit is there now that was so evident earlier in the season, so why is that ? I dont know !
So personally I dont want to hear that "we are all on the bus, or that "all the lads are focused" or even "we know where we went wrong" I just want to see the team spirit return, the confidence return and three points in the bag, it wont be the end of our problems but it will be a step in the right direction.